Gashed! Records:
Gashed! Records started in 1998, as a way for Eric Deegan to promote quality electro-industrial bands that were often overlooked and unappreciated by larger industrial labels... some of the bands that were signed to Gashed! were: Assemblage 23, Aghast View, Negative Format, Abscess, NCC, . I really liked Gashed! They had some pretty cool bands signed to the label... and they helped in the success of some of the more well known bands in the scene now, specifically Assemblage 23. The other thing about Gashed! is that they were a local label out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada... and it was really cool having a label of their status based out of this city! I found sooo many cool bands because of them! My first purchase from the label was a budget compilation called "Virion Sequences", there were a whole shitload of cool bands on that compilation... I still have it actually... the artwork for that release was pretty cool too! I think it's amazing that the local scene here had such an amazing label, and I think it really put Calgary on the map as far as the industrial scene in Canada goes. You know, now that I think about it, I guess it's not so much that I miss the label, it's that the city had enough of a scene that it could support a label like that!
The second label I wish still existed is:
Wax Trax! Records:
We all know why I wish this label was still around, I'm sure a lot of you folks feel the same way! Wax Trax! was an iconic and pioneering label when it comes to industrial music... if it wasn't for them, EBM band Front 242 would not have made the impact it did, KMFDM wouldn't have made the impact they did, Al Jourgensen wouldn't be as successful as he was, I mean Front Line Assembly wouldn't be where they are today without Wax Trax!, fuck... VNV Nation, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Meat Beat Manifesto, Revolting Cocks, Chris Connelly, sooo many bands and artists in the goth/industrial scene would not be where they are today without this label... It's really too bad the way things ended (TVT takeover)... I mean it would be awesome to see more bands pour out of this label, if it could carry on! I'm glad that Julie Nash is keeping the memory of her father Jim Nash and his partner Dannie Flesher alive with the recent documentary "Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records" as well as the pop-up shop she did... I'm hoping there'll be more of that kind of stuff in the near and into the far future as well!
The third label I wish still existed is:
NOTHING Records:
Now this label was Trent Reznor's (Nine Inch Nails) personal label... and there were sooo many bands that came off this, first of all Marilyn Manson was signed to it for I do think three albums ("Portrait of An American Family", "Antichrist Superstar", and "Mechanical Animals"), he is a shock rock icon now... Pop Will Eat Itself was also signed to it for their most popular release in the States "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos" (as well as several singles off the album), which was probably one of their most popular records of all time, and the track that kind of made it for them was "Ich Bin Ein Auslander". Another band signed to the label was Prick... sooo many good bands were a part of NOTHING Records... I kinda wish Trent didn't dissolve the label after he ended up suing his business partner for hoarding profits or whatever... Granted NOTHING was a vanity label, but it did very well, and broke some awesome bands... Trent started NOTHING Records so that he could keep the artistic vision of Nine Inch Nails out of the control of major labels... and he could do whatever the fuck he wanted to artistically speaking! Granted even though NOTHING Records is gone now, he still retains control of his releases, and if I'm not mistaken, he releases NIN stuff under The Null Corporation banner now... and I think it is strictly reserved for his projects and not for any other band. Although, I would say, despite the NOTHING banner being gone now, his various musical endeavors are still high-quality, and none of his artistic vision is being compromised! I guess I felt like that NOTHING Records was him, and bands he believed in and helped get them out there in the world, and I felt like it was a very strong label... and anything that was associated with it, tended to be very good... and now we don't get to see, or discover bands like the ones he supported with his label. Also, I always thought that NOTHING Records was Trent and when it came out that he was dissolving the label, I felt like we lost a major part of the whole identity of Trent and Nine Inch Nails. I mean... I run a personal underground label, currently releasing my own stuff... and a large part of the inspiration for doing that was the same reason Trent ran NOTHING... creative control.
I think these are the three top labels I wish were still around! What are your thoughts? Are there goth/industrial labels that are non-existent that you wish were still around..? Let me know in the comments!!
No comments:
Post a Comment